Hosiery and method of making



Sept. 8, 1936. c; G. ERICKSON I HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed July 9, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Y Sept. 8, 1936. c; ERICKSQN 2,053,468

HOSIERY AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed July 9, 1954 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

M HWM b ATTORNEY;

Patented Sept. 8, 193@ I I UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HOSIERY AND LIETHOD 'OF' MAKING THE SAME Charles G. Erickson, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Phoenix Hosiery Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a. corporation of Wisconsin Application July 9, 1934, Serial No. 734,295

1 Claim. (01. 66184) This invention relates to hosiery and more parheel tabs may be trimmed off or rounded. The ticularly to hosiery practically adapted to proheel tabs in the back of the stocking are then duction on seamless knitting machinery and yet out along the line in which the seam in the closely simulating in its final form full-fashioned full-fashioned stocking usually occurs. The side 5 hosiery. The hose, as produced by the present edges of the sole are then seamed to the side '5 invention is especially designed and adapted for edges of the top part of the stocking and the use by men, being in the nature of socks. ends of the sole are looped to the ends of the In carrying out the invention the top and leg heel tabs. The bottoms of the heel tabs are of the hosiery are knitted in the usual manner, looped together and the edges at the back of the that is, by making the top on a topper and a leg of the stocking are seamed to each other. 10 leg on a legger or a seamless knitting machine, The effect is that of full-fashioned stocki-ng and usually of the type wherein a rotating cylinder yet knitting is accomplished on a seamless knitcarrying the needles is continuously rotated and ting machine with consequent economy and conthe full number of needles, for example 240, are venience in production.

employed. After the knitting of the leg has been Other objects and advantages reside in certain I5 completed one half of the needles are thrown novel features of the construction, arrangement out of action and the cylinder is oscillated with and combination of parts which will be hereinthe remaining half of the needles operative in after more fully described and particularly pointorder to knit the heel. Thereafter, aloose course ed out in the appended claim, reference being is knitted into the fabric, in order to provide for had to the accompanying drawings forming a 2 looping of portions of the heel tabs. After this part of this specification, and in which: has been done, the needles which have been uti- Figure 1 is a view in elevation showing the lized to make the heel and the loose course are stocking as it comes from the knitting machine thrown out of operation, and the other needles, but folded in order to illustrate the structure;

that is, the other 120 needles in the example Figure 2 is a similar view illustrating how the g mentioned, are brought into action to knit the blank is severed after knitting to adapt it to the top of the foot of the hosiery. When the knitting subsequent looping and seaming operations; of the top has been completed, the same needles Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in elevation that have been in action are utilized to knit the illustrating how portions of the blank are toe portion, although different threads may be brought together for looping and seaming oper- 30 supplied for this purpose and the action is varied ations; in that as the knitting of the toe portion pro- Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 1 but showgresses one needle at the end of each h lf swine ing the blank somewhat differently folded for the 0f the cylinder is thrown Out Of action at the purposes of illustration;

completion of each course until a half of the Figure 5 is a view in elevation of the completed 35 toe has been knit, whereupon the action is restocking or sock; versed and one needle is thrown in at the end of Figure 6 is a view in elevation of the blank each a f Sw until the full number of needles after the seam has been cut and showing it spread (120 in the example being used) are again op- Out; d

erate W this has been done the tee P Figures 7, 8, .and 9 are views in cross section 40 tion has been knit. Th next p which protaken on line 1-1 of Figure 4 and showing the ceeds immediat ly p the mpletion of the blank first as it comes from the machine, second toe portion is the knitting of'the sole and for as t, and th as d, this purp s t sa needles are mp y d al- Referring to the drawings, the numeral l desthough in each Osc a full a of the ignates the top of the stocking which is knit in 45 needles function so that the courses are of uni th usual way, After the top is knit it is transform width. Upon comp etiOfl 0f e knitti ferred to a legger and the leg 2 is also knit in the of the sole a loose course is knit into the fabric conventional fashion. Upon the completion of t adap it r l p t the l ta s and a the leg the heel portion 3 made up of heel tabs to ew co p e cou es a e then knit which 3 and 3 is knit, this being accomplished by 05- sults in the blank or hose coming from the macillating the cylinder of the machine and utilizchine with corners of the sole knit to the heel. ing only half of the needles. Upon completion After the knitting has been completed the corof the knitting of the heel a loose course is knit ners of the sole are separated from the heel in order to provide for a subsequent looping optabs by simply cutting them therefrom and the eration which will be hereinafter described.

After this has been done the needles employed for knitting the heel are thrown out of action but still retain, however, the loops of the last course. The other half of the needles is then brought into operation to knit the top part of the foot designated at 5, the cylinder being oscillated for this purpose and courses of uniform width being knit. This action is continued until the knitting of the top part of the foot has been finished. The next operation is the knitting of the toe designated at 6 and made up of portions 6* and 6 The portion 6 is knit by oscillating the cylinder and utilizing the same needles that had been employed for knitting the top part 5. However, thread of different texture is supplied to the needles which knit the toe and the operation is varied in that at the completion of each oscillation one needle is dropped out of action to secure the narrowing or bulging effect. When the knitting of the toe has progressed to the point of the toe the operation is reversed in that instead of dropping a needle at the end of each course, a needle is added, thus widening instead of narrowing the portion 6*. The next step consists in knitting the sole 1, which operation is also effected by utilizing the same needles and oscillating the needle cylinder. When the sole 1 has been knit a loose course is added also to provide for subsequent looping operation to be hereinafter described, and a few full courses are added by round and round knitting which results in the formation of the connection portion 8 illustrated in Figures 1 and 4. This completes the knitting of the blank.

The portion 8 is then severed and the resulting edges are raveled down after the loose courses adjacent thereto have been transferred to the looper. Prior to this, however, the heel tabs are separated by cutting them apart and the back of the stocking is also out along the line in which the seam in full-fashioned hosiery usually occurs. Thereupon the edges H and [2 of the top part of the foot and the sole are seamed together, as indicated at S. The corners l3 of the heel tabs are rounded off as at l 4 and the rounded off edges M are looped together as at L. The edges I5 of the heel tabs are then looped as at L' to the edges N5 of the sole and the edges of the back of the leg are seamed together. This produces what appears to be a full-fashioned sock, illustrated to advantage in Figure 5, and yet is produced on a seamless knitting machine.

While I have shown and described one construction of hosiery and one method of making the same, it is to be understood that the construction shown and the method disclosed have been selected merely for the purposes of illustration or example and that various changes may be resorted to as will be understood by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

The invention claimed is:

The hereindescribed method of making hosiery,

simulating full-fashioned hosiery, which comprises knitting the top and leg of the hosiery in the usual way on a circular knitting machine, then utilizing a portion of the needles of the machine and an oscillating movement of the cylinder thereof to knit the heel tabs and to incorporate a loose course along an edge thereof, then utilizing the remaining needles and also an oscillating motion of the cylinder to knit in succession the top part of the foot, the toe portion, the sole and to incorporate a loose course in the sole at the rearward edge thereof, utilizing round and round knitting to unite the loose courses by complete ocurses, severing the complete courses, the heel tabs and also the back of the leg, rounding off the heel tabs, interlocping the loose course of the sole with edges of the heel tabs, interlooping portions of the loose course of the heel tabs together, seaming edges of the sole to edges of the top part of the foot, and seaming the rounded off portions of the edges of the heel tabs together and also seaming the edges 0f the back of the leg together.

CHARLES G. ERICKSON. 

